The Language of Flowers

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The Victorian language of flowers was used to express emotions: honeysuckle for devotion, azaleas for passion, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it has been more useful in communicating feelings like grief, mistrust and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only ...Read MoreThe Victorian language of flowers was used to express emotions: honeysuckle for devotion, azaleas for passion, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it has been more useful in communicating feelings like grief, mistrust and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings. Now eighteen, Victoria has nowhere to go, and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own. When her talent is discovered by a local florist, she discovers her gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But it takes meeting a mysterious vendor at the flower market for her to realise what's been missing in her own life, and as she starts to fall for him, she's forced to confront a painful secret from her past, and decide whether it's worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness. "The Language of Flowers" is a heartbreaking and redemptive novel about the meaning of flowers, the meaning of family, and the meaning of love.Read Less

Good. Item may show signs of shelf wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. Includes supplemental or companion materials if applicable. Access codes may or may not work. Connecting readers since 1972. Customer service is our top priority.

Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972. Used books may not include companion materials, some shelf wear, may contain highlighting/notes, may not include cd-rom or access codes. Customer service is our top priority!

Very Good in Very Good jacket. Audio CD Ex-Library This unabridged audio book has 9 CD's in very good condition with a library's circular sticker on each one. The plastic case is in very good condition with sme stickers on it. This book is read by Tara Sands and lasts about 11 hours.

Good. 9 AUDIO CDs withdrawn from the library collection. We will polish each individual Audio CD for better quality of sound. Some library notation to the set. Enjoy this worthwhile AUDIO CD performance.

Poignant, powerful read

Foster children have no place to go when they "age out"--turn 18 and are no longer eligible for system services. Many become lost souls: no family waiting with open arms or hearts to help them find a job, go to college, or even find a place to live. This is the story of one such girl, her search for a place in someone's heart, and finally the memories and people who make it possible for her to find a place to live, grow, and love in a new kind of family. Told in dream- like flashbacks and gritty images of poverty and the homeless, the book is nonetheless a romance as well as a book about parenting and a failing social system.

Gloria W

May 1, 2014

Flowers and Fostercare

The first several chapters were about a destructive and unlikeable, foul mouthed girl soon to be aged-out. Where are the flowers? As the story progresses the connection is made and becomes a very intriguing story.

Barbara H

Apr 13, 2013

Too slow

I really had to push myself to finish reading this book. It was so sad and on the dark side. It was touted as a good read, but it was not for me. It made me feel depressed just reading it.

cqthatcher@sbcglobal.net

Mar 29, 2013

Great Service

Both books were receioved promptly. The second arrived was a hard copy and was in beautiful condition. Thanks.

Publishers Weekly, 2011-05-30Diffenbaugh's affecting debut chronicles the first harrowing steps into adulthood taken by a deeply wounded soul who finds her only solace in an all-but-forgotten language. On her 18th birthday, Victoria Jones ages out of the foster care system, a random series of living arrangements around the San Francisco Bay Area the only home she's ever known. Unable to express herself with words, she relies on the Victorian language of flowers to communicate: dahlias for "dignity"; rhododendron for "beware." Released from care with almost nothing, Victoria becomes homeless, stealing food and sleeping in McKinley Square, in San Francisco, where she maintains a small garden. Her secret knowledge soon lands her a job selling flowers, where she meets Grant, a mystery man who not only speaks her language, but also holds a crucial key to her past. Though Victoria is wary of almost everyone, she opens to Grant, and he reconnects her with the only person who has ever mattered in her life. Diffenbaugh's narrator is a hardened survivor and wears her damage on her sleeve. Struggling against all and ultimately reborn, Victoria Jones is hard to love, but very easy to root for. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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